Title: "A Father's Plea"

Author: LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley

Category: Book - "Lord of the Rings"

Genre: Angst

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to "The Lord of the Rings". I just adore it to pieces! Legede is a character of my own creation. You may use him, but please ask permission to do so first.

NOTE: This was written strictly based on a single image of Thranduil from the upcoming "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies". So keep in mind that the movie HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED! The movie may play out completely different than this short one-shot! So don't go flaming me saying I got things wrong (this happens with "The Drinking Game" all the time).

NOTE 2: I have accepted that Tauriel is movie canon HOWEVER in my realms of writing, Legede is Captain of Mirkwood's Guard and as such, Tauriel is but an Elf of Legolas' own patrol. So please don't flame me about Tauriel being captain blah blah blah. Just be glad I mention her at all (cause I really don't like her to begin with).

A Father's Plea

The chill of each snowflake that touches my skin has made me numb to the ice and the cold that surrounds this battlefield. With blue eyes I look, taking in each mangled body, looking at every face forever frozen in time. My jaw clenches tight as the fear and despair begin to swell once more in my heart. I dread every step I take... for I can not find him...

I catch a glimpse of blond hair to my right and quickly turn, ready to drop to my knees beside the still form. Legolas?! Please do not let it... no... no it is nothing more than a man laying dead upon the snow. My heart had skipped a beat, my lungs had dared not breathe. Now relief washes over me and I feel an almost silent sigh escape me.

Do I feel sadness for the dead laying here? Yes.

Do I feel remorse for the lives lost? Of course.

Am I filled with joy each time the next body turns out to not be the one of my beloved son? What father would not? What sort of father would I be if I could not say my heart truly desires another to die before my child?

Ai! Each moment that passes I fear for the Elfling raised in the darkening wood. Fear that grips my heart and clenches my jaw as my teeth grind together just to keep the tears from coming. But those moments pass, slowly, and still I find no sign of him.

My dear Legolas... I can not bear the thought of losing you...

It begins to wear upon my soul... this unknown. My armor, heavier with each passing moment. I hear it creaking ever so slightly, a sound that grates the raw nerves, as I step over another fallen soul. Men, torn apart and left to die... Elves... my Elves... slaughtered by the dozens. I am disgusted and ashamed. I can not mourn these warriors now... No... I can focus on nothing but those blue eyes.

The Orcs will pay! These Elves I knew by name! Some stood by my side in Mordor! Friends and families torn apart and for what?! What has been won?! What do we fight for?! Maybe I was wrong... never have I second guessed my course but... but maybe, I...

No... I wanted my son. I WANT my son! I can not bear the thought that...

The ruins of Dale are cursed, I say! Winter's hand lies thick upon this wretched place, this damned city has stolen too much from me! I would burn it to ash! A funeral pyre for the dead to be remembered, blazing bright and high as the fire consumes all!

The fire...

Valar! Why?! I close my eyes as I try not to break. It is slipping... I'm slipping... I'm not strong enough to weather this again... The smell of burning flesh is sickening and...

My steps falter and I stop. The pain in my heart... too great to carry on. What hope remains in my heart is thin. My beautiful son is gone! My sweet Greenleaf... I can not find him here amongst the dead! Have our enemies taken him for sport? Is he laying wounded somewhere between this battlefield and the next? Did the flames of the dragon steal his life from this world? The fire... the death... Not again! I beg of you, Mandos, do not take him too!

Lightly, my gloved fingers reach up, the tips touching my left cheek. My hand is heavy with the blade it carries... but still I feel and I remember and I see the fire and I feel the searing heat and my heart breaks at the thought of such agony upon one so full of love and light.

Please do not do this to me... Ai! Legolas!

And I blink back the tears I can not shed. Standing amongst the slain, a sword in each hand, my half-blind gaze flickering about, I'm desperately seeking the one jewel more dear to me than any found beneath the earth. My jewel... My light... My...

"We will find him." come the words of my captain. He stands but feet behind me, his own blue gaze searching and seeking for any trace. "Do not give up hope, Thranduil."

Of course we will find him! But how?! Will he be gutted before my feet? Will his body be blackened to a crisp? Will there be nothing left and I am forced to forever weep for the son who is lost and never found?! Legede, please... help me! He is gone!

My heart cries out but I can not bear to look to my friend. Hope has fled me. And the snow continues to fall and the count of dead grows. Such a still silence... such a horrible, terrible hush of death. Not since the last war has such devastation been wrought.

My father... My Elves... My son...

I hold back the sob in my throat and I can not stop the anger. I sheathe my swords and kick a severed Orc arm that I see before my boot. It flies a few feet in the air to slap against a crumbling wall. I can feel Legede's eyes on me, but the rage and the despair are building within my heart and I fear I can not contain it. I can not stop this! Am I powerless?! A king powerless to save what he loves! A father powerless to save his child!

"Why did he have to disobey my order?" I ask, my soul grieving even now and I know Legede can see it. I clench my gloved hands into fists at my sides, fearful that I will strike out at my captain instead of my enemies..

Am I mad at Legolas? Am I mad at myself? Why did I keep him so close? Why did I give that order?! Why did he leave?! What stubborn pig-headed notion was in that blond head of his?! This is no game! This is war! This is fighting for everything we hold dear and our very way of life! To run off into the morning light...

Legede moves forward and I can see him now out of the corner of my right eye. He knows better than to come upon my left... not in a field of battle, and I am grateful for it. "I know not, my lord. He followed after Tauriel, or so the palace guard spoke when I questioned him." the white haired Elf sighs softly and I know that Legolas' absence pains him as well.

Legede has raised my child more than I... he has been there when duty called me elsewhere... or when my own grief became too much to bear. He loves my little Greenleaf... just as dearly as I... and yet I feel such anger and frustration welling within that my hands shake and I place them upon the hilts of my swords. I will not strike my dearest friend out of my own weakness.

"But you know your son." Legede continues, his own gaze falling upon my form. "He is... reckless and stubborn... quite like you were at his age."

"I did not go running off toward a dragon!" but then I stop my words and sigh, my gloved fingers resting upon my forehead for a moment as disgust threatens to overwhelm me. "At least not at his age..."

For I had confronted a great fire drake... long long ago... and the price I paid to try to save my dying father had been great. If not for the Elf at my side now... if not for Elrond's skill... if not for the magic of the Elves...

Not again... please... What does the Valar want of me?! Do they wish to see me upon my knees? A proud king begging for all he holds dear to be returned?!
There is a hand on my shoulder and I can not help but sigh, blinking back the pain... pushing it deeper... my soul hides it away as if it were my wine cellar... each bottle holding my pain... each bottle holding my tears... my emotions... my heart... my love...

Legolas...

"We will find him, mellon nin." Legede says to me, his voice soft as a whisper and for a moment, I can not help but grasp his arm with my own fingers, holding tight, willing his strength and his hope to be my own.

I want to ask how I have failed as a father... to ask if I have grown too far from my child... to know that Legolas understands me... to know he understands that I love him more than anything. To protect him... to protect that which I love... And I see in my mind's eye those blue eyes once more, looking up at me as I hold the babe close and relish in the joy that this small being is MY SON.

But I can not ask... and I can not say these things. Not here. Not now. No more am I allowed the option of displaying my true emotions... not upon a field of death and decay. So my mask slips back into place, perfectly practiced... perfectly crafted... because if it did not, I would break and lose what little hope left to me.

I shake the thoughts away, realizing with a grimace that I am facing south. Quickly my body turns and I begin to search to the east. Legede, understanding my intent, continues on to the south, allowing me time to collect my thoughts and bring the rage and fierce desire to slay Orcs under control. Would that I could rip those foul abominations asunder... To tear their limbs from their wretched bodies and slash and stab until I am covered in their blood and grime and my heart stops crying. I would burn them all. Listen to their dying screams in the night and drink deep their agony. And I would know vengeance upon my enemies...

If they have killed my son...

My ire with Legolas simmers now, for it is hard to be angry when your heart is full of worry. If he does live, and I pray to the Valar with every step I take that he does, he will know the anger of a king for his blatant disregard of my orders. But he will know the love of his father first.

Ai, how I long to hold him in my arms and reaffirm his life... to run my fingers through his golden hair and hold him close... To smell the sweet scent of pine that lingers ever upon his tunic... To hear the laughter and the joy in his words... To see those eyes... gorgeous blue eyes that remind me of deep wells of the purest water. To know my son once more... To love him as a father should and not as a king demands... Valar, I ask for nothing more. Take my life in trade but give me my son! He is all that I have! All that I love!

Swallowing the lump of emotions I clench my jaw once more and continue onward. Ever walking... ever seeking... My swords once more in my hands... my haunted blue gaze turned to the dead as I count the number and remember the names of every Elf slain before my feet... my heart bleeding for the child lost...

And I know that if I find my son... if his body is laying upon the cold ground, broken and bloody... if the life that once flowed through his heart is truly gone... if I look upon him... if I see such a sight... I will cease to be. The anger and the hatred will swallow me whole. Then... oh then... my enemies will know the wrath and the ruin of the Elvenking and I will set the whole might of Mirkwood loose upon whatever enemy crosses my path.

If this is to end in my death... if I am not to see my precious Greenleaf again... then they will pay for taking my son from my side.

They will pay...

THE END

Author's Note:

- The image that started this whole mental journey is the same one I used for the story cover. You can find a larger version here, just take out all the spaces in the URL and change the DOT to "." and add a lower case COM after DOT - ( i57 . tinypic DOT / 24ermad . j p g )

- Also, I dedicate this story to my friend Kaiko because she gave me this picture today and yeah... I couldn't get it out of my head. For HOURS! Until I finally sat down and wrote this story. She also helped a lot on being my Beta for this story.

Muse Moments:

"Mmmm... I love that new picture. There's so much angst in those eyes. Lee's got really expressive eyes." Nil says as she sips on a soda starring at the pic of Thranduil on her computer.
Legolas sighs, "Why did you write about him looking for me?"
"Because I've wanted to ever since I saw DoS and you ran off. You broke your ada's heart, Elfling." Nil teases, glancing at the Elf. "BUT I'm not so sure if movie Thranduil will be happy you're alive or pissed that you disobeyed him. It's actually the one thing I'm looking forward to most in the film to be honest. I really want to know Thranduil's reaction to all of this."
"I know my reaction to your story..." comes a very familiar voice behind her.
Nil winces. "I didn't hurt you this time! I didn't hurt anyone! I didn't kill the Elves and men in this story! PJ did! I'm innocent!" she winces again when Thranduil puts a hand on top of her head.
"For that, for once, I am glad. Though you did have me look to the south."
"Also not my thing! Tolkien wrote it! I just run with it!"
Thranduil smirks slightly. "And I touched my face..."
"Also not my doing! PJ did it! I did absolutely nothing but give voice to your love of your son." Nil protests before glancing behind her and noticing that Thranduil has one arm around Legolas' shoulders.
"As it should be..." the Elvenking replies. "As it should be..."